Ask, Seek, Knock

Vision Moment:

Guest welcome

Deacon and Elder meeting today

Family Camp next week

Text:

Matt 7:

Matthew 7:7–12 ESV

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Prayer:

Introduction:

We have learned that the majority of the crowd Jesus is speaking to were the poor, needy, and broken of first century Jerusalem that lived within the Roman Empire.

In an honor/shame society, asking, seeking, knocking is looked down upon, it’s a shameful life. Only the most desperate of their day would reduce themselves to begging from others.

In some ways our culture is similar… A popular phrase used in Christianity is, “Hey if you ever need anything… you call me.” After hearing someone say that to us, we instantly smile and say, “I will” even though inside we’re saying… That’s never going to happen. Because I’m out of gas right now and don’t get paid until tomorrow, but I still can’t break this smile and tell you, “I need money for gas.”

There is a continuity with how the hearers of Jesus’s sermon and the readers of Matthew’s Gospel all the way up to today, respond to the words of Jesus that we find in our text this morning.

What’s true for them 2000 years ago is still true for many of us today, on one hand you have the “I can do it all by myself. I don’t need anyone’s help” crowd; or you have the, “I don’t want anyone to think that I’m not good with my finances, or that I don’t know what I’m doing with my kids, or that I’m up to my eyeballs in debt” crowd. Both paradigms are present in every generation since the fall of the human race.

But, there is also a continuity between those who sat under the teaching of Jesus and those who are walking the earth today and that is, everyone has needs. In some ways they’re the same as those of Jesus’ day and in other ways they’re the exact same. We all have physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. All of us have needs.

So what the crowd sitting on the hillside and the crowd sitting in plastic chairs are up against is ultimately the tension between a few different things:

“I have needs, but I don’t want anyone to know I have needs.”

“I have needs, but I will get myself out of any mess I got myself into.”

“I have needs, but it seems like when I ask for help, I’ve been let down or rejected.”

Teaching:

The good news is that if you fit in any of those categories, there is hope for you. Because all three of them find their foundation in a man-centered approach to dealing with our basic human needs.

Jesus is teaching his disciples that we should acknowledge our need, treat God like He’s the most trustworthy Father, and then imitate him to the rest of the world.

First, acknowledge the need

Jesus says, “ask, seek, and knock...”

It’s such a familiar trifecta that we often overlook the meaning. Prayer itself is such a basic concept. And yet, we don’t pray as often as we should.

And the crazy thing is, Jesus backs the instruction up with an unmatched set of promises:

Asking = receiving

Seeking = finding

Knocking = open

So, why don’t we pray for our needs to be met?

It could be one of many reasons, like:

We don’t think this applies to us because many of our needs are automatically met.

We aren’t often met with the need for food, clothing, or even housing. But what about hard-heartedness, apathy, or a lack of spiritual fervor? What about peace, a love for our neighbor, or a generous eye?

What about our community, our children, our spouses, each other? Where there are people, there are needs.

Another reason might be that acknowledging our need means becoming vulnerable

There is a reason why many 12 step programs begin with - Admitting I am powerless over _______ that life has become unmanageable.

That place of vulnerability is where we meet grace. It’s an acknowledgment that we are at the end of our rope. Listen to what Peter had to say about this place where humility and grace meet:

1 Peter 5:5–6 ESV

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

1 Peter 5:5b ESV

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

What is it that you’re holding so tightly to, you’re afraid to speak it out loud and say, “I need help!” Acknowledging that need will begin the healing process because Jesus promises that what you ask for, you will receive. What you seek for you will find, and the door you knock on, will be opened to you.

1 Peter

In 2009 the economy had gotten so unpredictable that the leadership at the church my wife and I worked for was forced to close down the school. Since we were both paid primarily by the school, we were both jobless. At first we gulped and said, “Ok, we can do this. I’ll get another job or two until I can find a church to pastor at, we’ll be okay.”

Of course we were nervous, but we still believed we’d be able to find something to get us through. Several weeks, not two or three, many weeks went by and no one was hiring. I hit an all time low when not even Starbucks would return my constant calling and drop-ins.

But after not much time had elapsed, Mary and I felt the squeeze of bills and the need for more diapers and groceries, and I felt the weight of feeling like a complete failure of a husband that we went to the Father and said, “Father we don’t know how we’re going to pay rent, buy groceries, make a car payment, or even eat breakfast tomorrow morning. Would you please take care of us?”

Those next several weeks and even months were some of the leanest but fruitful months of our lives as we literally watched the hand of God move in the lives of his people to bless us.

It began with the man who owned the house we were living in. We simply said, “We can’t pay the entire rent, is there any way you can discount it until we find work?” He happened to be one of the most generous men I’ve ever known. He said, “Would it work if I cut it in half?” We said, “Um… mhm.” After just a couple months he actually allowed us to live rent free.”

The flood of generosity and love that we experienced was so overwhelming that I decided I needed to write it down, so we could remember it and tell our children. I know there were things I missed and it fell off after a few weeks, but it’s everything from fresh squash to a random IOU check from the state of CA (of all places) in the amount of $238.

I hope you see the point of the story. We had to humble ourselves and acknowledge our need before the Father and become vulnerable to see God really work.

And this actually leads to the next reason we don’t pray. We’ve prayed before, and God didn’t answer my prayer.

I think the question we all have when it comes to prayer and especially as it pertains to this set of promises is, “Why didn’t God answer my prayer? Jesus promises He will not only here, but in other Gospel’s too. And while Jesus doesn’t answer our question His own experience helps us to see how we can believe in the promises and still be content when it seems like God isn’t answering our prayers:

Faithlessness - we don’t really believe He will or can answer our prayer.

In a father brings his son with epilepsy to Jesus and says, “Your disciples couldn’t heal my son, can you?” When the disciples asked Jesus, “Why couldn’t we heal him?” Jesus said, “Because of your little faith. If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you’ll be able to move mountains.”

This is especially true for those of us who grew up going to church. There’s this point where you know that the world is broken and full of pain and suffering and wonder, “Do my prayers even really do anything?”

And a sliver of that is actually born in believing in the Sovereign nature of God. This teaches us that God is the supreme ruler of all things including space, time, and matter. And Jesus alludes to that in the section on prayer. Jesus taught that we should ask for our needs to be met BECAUSE Your Father already knows what you need before you ask.

We hear that and (because of our pragmatic nature) go, “If he already knows what I need, why am I asking again?”

If our theology brings us to the place where our faith is decreasing and we’re praying less, than the problem is not with God or His word, it’s with our theology or at least our understanding of it.

Martin Luther, the German Reformer, wrote his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount after splitting from the Roman Catholic Church. He is also the Reformer who wrote a book called “On The Bondage of the Will” in which he debates Erasmus’s own book called “On Free Will.” In it he argues that the concept of ultimate free will is impossible because the very nature of humanity is incapable of coming to a place of repentance apart from the work of the Triune God. The concept of Ultimate free will would withdraw the omnipotence and omniscience of God rendering God a very powerless God.

But in his own commentary on this passage, Luther says this:

Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount Verses 7–11

but we see, too, that we are not making much account of prayer, and taking it for granted that this warning and exhortation does not apply to us, and that we do not now need to pray, since the useless chattering and muttering of rosaries and other idolatrous little prayers has ceased; which is not a good sign, and it is to be feared that much misfortune will overtake us that we might have been able to prevent.

As passionate as Luther was about God’s Sovereignty, He did not allow his theology to undo other portions of Scripture that reveal the human agency that we do possess. Especially as it relates to prayer.

I believe James, the brother of Jesus is helpful here:

James 5:16–18 ESV

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

James 5:16-

There is an opposite extreme to this view and that’s the one that is gaining popularity today, it’s believing that the only reason God isn’t answering my prayers is because I am just lacking faith. As long as I have the right quantity of faith, God will do whatever I want him to do… just like a Genie.

Sinfulness and Unreconciled Relationships

We all know that if we are tucking our sin away and clinging to it, we may be preventing our relationship with the Father. But we don’t often think about the implications of unreconciled relationships.

Peter, speaking to husbands, says:

1 Peter 3:7 ESV

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

And just like believing that the only reason God’s not answering your prayers is because of my lack of faith, we have another warning here and that’s that the only reason God’s not answering my prayers is because of sins I’ve committed. And even though I’ve repented, and even though I’ve sought to make amends with those I’ve wronged, I am under perpetual judgement.

Romans 8:1 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1–2 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

God’s Greater Purposes

One last reason why a prayer may go unanswered is because of God’s greater purposes. It remains a mystery to us what God’s greater purpose in any situation is, but the hymn writer seemed to get it right when he wrote these words:

Trials dark on every hand, and we cannot understand all the ways of God would lead us to that blessed promised land; but he guides us with his eye, and we'll follow till we die, for we'll understand it better by and by.

Temptations, hidden snares often take us unawares, and our hearts are made to bleed for a thoughtless word or deed; and we wonder why the test when we try to do our best, but we'll understand it better by and by.

By and by, when the morning comes, when the saints of God are gathered home, we'll tell the story how we've overcome, for we'll understand it better by and by.

That song was written by Charles Tindley, an African-American son of a slave. Whose father died when Charles was fairly young. He was separated from his mother to live with his aunt to preserve his freedom. Although Charles recalls being “hired out” by whomever would hire him to help take care of the family.

Charles began working in the church as a young man as the maintenance man, but through some time he was elected pastor of the small congregation. But God used Pastor Tindley incredibly as that church in the early 1900’s grew to over 10,000 members.

God used him to help other struggling African-Americans to trust that, “We will tell the story how we’ve overcome, for we will understand it better by and by.”

We must begin by acknowledging that we need help! And once we confess that, we can treat God as Father, but not just a Father...

Second, We then can treat God like He’s the most trustworthy Father

In the conclusion of this section Jesus is teaching His disciples to use good judgement, not to quickly and harshly cast judgement on others. But this includes the way that we discern what God is like.

Part of the BIG IDEA of the sermon is that we have to accurately discern what God is like. And there are two reasons for this and they work in two directions.

Learning what God is really like through Jesus gives us assurance that we are accepted. Jesus broke all the unwritten cultural and social boundaries. All of the religious elites hated Jesus. I mean, he spent time with the poor, dirty, sickly, drunks, prostitutes, and traitors. That’s good news for us. Instead of Jesus saying, “You guys go get cleaned up and then we can hang out.” He said, “Come to me all of you that are weary and overburdened with rules that you can’t keep, and I will give you rest.”

John 6:37 ESV

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

Guys, we have a good Father, but lots of people have good fathers. We have the most trustworthy Father.

Jesus illustrates:

Matthew 7:9–10 ESV

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?

What is he getting at? He’s saying, “Look, I know that the religious leaders play games, (and later on Judas would fully understand this) but MY FATHER, who is your Father too, he’s not in to trickery or bribery, he’s no deceiver, he’s the most trustworthy Father ever!”

Jesus is teaching us this,

“Disciples should make their judgement about God’s trustworthiness on God’s character not on human experience.”

And Redemption, we are called to do the same thing. Father’s (even good ones) fail, religious leaders (even good ones) fail, husbands, bosses, governments, everyone fails and at times is untrustworthy all except for the Father, He’s the most trustworthy Father ever.

And this leads us to the final portion of this section. It’s one that has lived on it’s own for a long time. We know it as “The Golden Rule.” We forget that’s it’s actually not it’s own rule or chapter or book, it’s part of the greater lesson Jesus is teaching. So how does it relate to what Jesus has been saying?

If we’re acknowledging our need and treating God like He’s the most trustworthy Father, that frees us from the need to receive from others which frees us then to imitate the Father (the way Jesus did for us) for the benefit of others.

Matthew 7:12 ESV

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

This sums up the portion on judging others and our relationship to the fact that we all have needs.

In our judgement, judge others the way you would like to be judged.

In our common condition (we all have needs) disciples ask of the Father all the while trusting He knows what we need and will keep his promises, and then turning around and treating others the way we wish to be treated.

How do we wish to be treated when we have needs? I think, we all wish to retain our dignity while at the same time having our needs met.

Earlier, I said that part of the big idea of the Sermon on the mount is to give us an accurate picture of what the Father is really like and that that’s for two reasons and works in two directions.

Reason 1 and direction 1 was to give us the assurance that we are accepted - so knowing God accurately and intimately is the inward direction, but we are not just learning God’s nature so we can be assured that we are accepted...

Reason 2 and Direction 2 is to propel us to action towards outsiders. Good orthodoxy will always lead to good orthopraxy.

Application:

Since we have the assurance that we’re accepted by the Father through the sacrificial love of Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, I am free. Free to remove all expectations from anyone outside of God’s family, SO THAT I can model Christ’s compassionate, unconditional love for the benefit of others, ultimately so they can experience that relationship with the Father.

Because of the assurance of your acceptance you’ve received, what expectations on others do you need to lay down? See, if we’re bringing all of our needs to the most trustworthy Father ever, I don’t need to lay what I need on my spouse, my neighbor, my children, my community, or anyone else. We are free to trust the Father AND act for the benefit of others.

I wonder, who in your family needs something? Your neighborhood? Your fellowship group? What do they need? Is it spiritual? Physical? Emotional? Is there some way you can model the outward focus of Jesus to meet that need?

You might be an unbeliever, but you don’t have to leave here being one. By the simple faith of a child, you can say to the Father, “I need you, I don’t know all that much about you, but I really want to believe in you, will you come in to my life and rescue me? Forgive me of the sin I’ve committed against you.”